the general counsel's office

Training

Legal Updates

Publications

Publishes articles and pamphlets educating law enforcement officers and union leaders on law enforcement representation.

Assistance

Renders assistance to local unions on lawsuits of interest to the law enforcement profession.

Representation

Represents parties, and files amicus briefs, in cases of interest to the law enforcement profession in the U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts.

Briefs & Pleadings

Maintains a collection of briefs and pleadings for use by I.U.P.A. leaders and attorneys in litigation.

I.U.P.A. also provides additional legal services to local unions in the Full Service Program.

the general counsel

Kevin F. Boyle

Kevin F. Boyle is a graduate of Tufts University and Quinnipiac University School of Law. He engaged in the private practice of law in Connecticut. His clients included police, emergency service workers and civilian workers in the public and private sector. His labor practice included bargaining unit formation, contract negotiation, and grievance arbitration. In 1991, I.U.P.A. provided crucial support when Boyle spearheaded the effort that led to the reform of the County Sheriffs system in Connecticut and has over 25 years experience.

Attorney Boyle is a member of the Connecticut, Florida and Federal District Bars. He has extensive experience practicing before the National Labor Relations Board, The Connecticut Labor Board, and the Connecticut Board of Mediation and Arbitration.

Boyle was a member of the faculty at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas where he served on the Executive Board of the Nevada Faculty Alliance. He is a member of the American Association of University Professors.

Boyle was President of the Board of Police Commissioners, President of the Board of Trustees, President of the Police Relief Fund, President of the Police Pension Fund and Director of the Office of Internal Affairs in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Boyle also led the Police Commissioners Association of Connecticut. As part of his duties with the Police Commissioners Association, Boyle developed educational seminars and lectures for the benefit of the members of the association and other members of the public safety community. He served as legislative advocate concerning issues of concern to public safety on the state and national levels. He served on the “Use of Force Review Board” for the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.

Associate general counsel

Holly E. Van Horsten

Holly E. Van Horsten is I.U.P.A.’s Associate General Counsel. Van Horsten is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Labor and Employment Law. She has spent the vast majority of her practice focusing exclusively on union-side labor law, with a particular concentration on public sector unions. Prior to joining I.U.P.A., Van Horsten worked in private practice with a law firm that exclusively represents labor unions in all dimensions of labor law, including but not limited to, negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements and providing representation in arbitrations, litigation, and administrative proceedings before the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (“PERC”) and before the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (“FDLE”) involving FDLE certification.

Van Horsten has also provided assistance with various internal union matters, including but not limited to, trainings for union business agents and stewards, review of union literature for strategic campaigns against employers, and international union conventions. Van Horsten is admitted to practice before the Federal District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida as well as the Eleventh Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. She is a graduate, with honors, from the Seattle University School of Law, where she was Associate Editor of the Law Review. Van Horsten also holds a Bachelors in Philosophy from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.